Creating MP3s The Old-Fashioned Way

About time I made a post in line with my original objective...

Back in the days before home computers could play music without the assistance of a CD-ROM drive or cassette recorder (I'm not kidding), before CD ripping programs could turn an entire collection of music into easily-playable MP3s in minutes, people personalized their portable music collections by manually recording their LPs and CDs onto cassette tapes using a stereo. For most, those days might be gone, but for some, we've simply entered the 21st century: as of this writing, I have turned 71 of my vinyl albums into MP3s suitable for playback on my iPod (yes, I do own one). Here are some tips on how to make MP3s that still exhibit analog characteristics:

1. Use good equipment: The sound quality will only be as good as your stereo equipment can muster. For best results, I suggest using a stereo system which is made up of discrete components. Better yet, if you can manage it, would be to use something involving tubes. I myself use a 1960s-vintage Dynaco model PAS-2 stereo tube preamplifier, which has a built-in phono preamplifier, as well as a tape output, which I feed into my computer. The phono preamplifier on the PAS-2 is fed by an Acoustic Research model XB 77 turntable, based around a classic design which is a favorite of audiophiles. I have done much tweaking to my setup, going through several turntables and other stereo components before arriving at this point, and don't consider it to be complete as of yet.

2. Consider the source: This may seem like a no-brainer to most, but I'll repeat it anyway: best results are achieved when the source recordings are in good shape. Perfection is not a must, but it helps to have something which doesn't sound like it's been gone over with a piece of rough sandpaper. Be sure to clean your records before transcribing them to MP3: one way to clean your records is with a Discwasher brush. Most records will have a small amount of noise to them, but modern software tools can detect and remove most mild vinyl imperfections. If the sound recording program you choose doesn't employ a click removal algorithm, external ones are available, such as ClickRepair, which costs $25, but has been found to work quite well.

3. Use an external sound device: Some computers have built-in line-level inputs, and you may find that sufficient for your purposes, but they're not always of very good quality, and most laptops lack a true line-level input (once tried doing a vinyl transfer using the microphone jack on my Sony Vaio laptop; the results were not pretty!), so a USB-based sound device is a good thing to have. For PC users, Creative makes useful external sound devices, such as this one. For Mac users, Griffin Technology's iMic is an excellent choice (apparently, it works with Windows, too, but I haven't tried it on one of my PCs).

4. Choose sound recording software which works for you: I have gone through many different sound recording programs. By and far, the best I've used was the now-defunct Cool Edit Pro (now available from Adobe as Audition, but it's quite expensive, at $349). There are several inexpensive options out there. For the PC user, one example is Goldwave, for $50. For the Mac, there are programs such as SoundStudio. There are even some free recording programs, such as Audacity, which is available for both Mac and Windows. Note that click removal algorithms, if at all present, vary from program to program. For example, I tried SoundStudio 3, which listed a click/pop removal feature, but it proved to be poorly-implemented (attempting to remove a large pop from a test recording using their interpolation function resulted in a flat line where the pop had been, which made things worse). If this is the case with the software you try, external pop/click reduction programs, such as ClickRepair listed above, are available.

5. Choose a sound recording format: One thing to tinker with is the format and bitrate of your recordings. When it comes to digital audio, the quality depends on the amount of compression used. Some people prefer to use lossless formats such as FLAC, but files recorded in this manner tend to take up lots of hard drive space. For most people, the MP3 format is sufficient; I suggest using a bitrate setting of at least 192kbps for best results (the higher the bitrate setting, the better the sound, but also, the larger the file). Another determiner in what format you can use has to do with the sort of formats the program you're using supports; often, an external encoder, such as LAME, is needed. Trial and error is the rule, not the exception, but once you find a sound format which is sufficient to your tastes, things should work out nicely.

6. Perform test recordings with any new hardware/software: manual ripping of vinyl or other sources is not always straightforward. Whenever you change a component in your hardware/software chain (such as trying a new preamplifier, or new sound recording program), perform a test recording to make sure that everything still works. In addition, when performing a vinyl transcription, do not assume that every record is the same. Some recordings were made using a stronger input signal than others. Listen to a loud portion with normal settings, and watch the input level indicators to make sure that the signal is not overloading the hardware. Typically, the 60% volume setting works for softer records, and 40% does the trick for louder records, with 50% coming in handy for ones somewhere in the middle. Once again, trial and error is the rule here, but once you get past it, the sky's the limit (typically, settings don't need to be changed when switching from one side of a record to another, but there are exceptions; the main one which comes to mind is Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick, where side 2 is much louder than side 1, for some reason...).

Once you get all the kinks worked out, things should be a breeze. Happy recording! :-)
-Adam

Graphite City pt. 2

Figured I'd give this one an update. The Yikes! G4, though being crippled from the factory, hasn't been such a bad computer, at least with some tweaking. I managed to overclock the CPU to a blazing 400MHz, boosted the RAM to 512MB with a different set of RAM chips (still registered them as "Unknown" in the System Profiler, though; I have a feeling that it's an issue with the computer), installed a DVD-ROM drive (with the appropriate decoder-equipped video card), added a second hard drive, and installed a SCSI card. However, after all this, it was still a Yikes! G4 (the PCI graphics can't even handle the Flurry screensaver...), so I decided to see if I could find something better at the MIT swapfest. Lo and behold, I did...

Well, sorta.

One of the vendors was selling a load of 400MHz PowerMac G4s, likely gotten rid of by a school or something, for $100 (the same price I paid for the Yikes! G4). Unlike the one I bought prior, however, this one was a "Sawtooth" version: AGP graphics card (ATI Rage 128 Pro), standard DVD-ROM drive (without need for the video encoder add-on), larger stock HD (faster ATA interface, too), newer-style CPU socket (more upgrades available for it), and a few other nice things. This one even has a ZIP drive as installed from the factory, as well as a single 256MB RAM chip (none of that 4x64MB junk). I transferred over the SCSI card and the second HD from the Yikes! G4, borrowed some of it's RAM (which now registers properly in the System Profiler), installed Tiger, and had myself a more-decent computer, in a few respects. It can even run the Flurry screensaver properly now... ;)

Sure, the processor is still slow by modern standards, but the graphics are a bit closer to modern, and the OS runs fairly well. My likely next move will be to get a better processor of some sort for it, and perhaps a better video card, but for the time being, it's quite an adequate computer for it's age, and much more decent than the Yikes! G4. Perhaps, someday, PowerMac G5s will be down in the price range that the early PowerMac G4s are now commanding on the used market, but I'm sure we're a few years off from that point...
-Adam

Graphite City

The iMac has been working quite well lately. However, being a computer collector, I can't be content with owning just the latest and greatest; I must challenge myself with the oldest and moldiest... ;)

At the May MIT Swapfest, I came upon a Power Macintosh G4 selling for $100. Having seen them at previous meets for upwards of $200, I figured that it was a bargain. 'Course, when I got home, I realized that that wasn't quite the case. For one thing, it's the PCI graphics version (codenamed "Yikes!"). That is, the short-lived stopgap model Apple threw out there when the desired motherboard wasn't working out, and Steve Jobs wanted the PowerMac G4 released now... Outdated PCI graphics, ZIF socket CPU, CD-ROM drive; basically, a Blue & White PowerMac G3 (codename "Yosemite") with a G4 stuffed in it's processor slot.

Secondly, it's the 350MHz model. When Motorola was having problems producing the 500MHz version of the 7400 (G4), which would've completed Apple's three-tiered setup line (400/450/500MHz), Apple unceremoniously 'speed-bumped' the line 50MHz per notch (making it 350/400/450MHz), without lowering the price! That means that you got even less for your buck! Whoever bought this thing must've been kicking himself when Apple released the AGP graphics version of the PowerMac G4 (codenamed "Sawtooth"), with it's faster processor and better graphics.

Thirdly, whoever owned it before me upgraded it in the cheapest way possible. I was told that it had 256MB of RAM under the hood, which turned out to be correct; however, when I opened the case, instead of a single 256MB chip or two 128MB chips, what should I find but four 64MB chips! You can't even give those damned things away, and they would be all but useless for any of my other Macs, should I care to transplant them, since none of my Macs have more than four RAM slots.

Despite these issues, I managed to soldier on. I borrowed the two 256MB chips from my iMac G3 (mostly out-of-service since the Intel iMac came along), to see what kind of speed boost it would give me once I installed OS X 10.3 (it came with 9.2.2). Unfortunately, it seems little faster than my iMac G3, with it's 400MHz processor. Perhaps I'm not using the right kind of RAM (the chips from the iMac G3 are PC133, and register as such when installed in the iMac G3, but come up as 'unknown type' when installed in the PowerMac G4). With any luck, I'll find some RAM that's more suitable, find a faster ZIF processor, and be able to install a larger hard drive (the one in it is the stock 10GB, and some idiot managed to lose the dual-drive mounting bracket which it should've come with...), and turn it into a nice machine.

A couple of weeks later, a friend of mine offered to sell me an old iBook G3 which he had used throughout school. This is one of the original "clamshell" case iBooks, and one of the later models: 466MHz processor, DVD-ROM drive, AirPort card. Unfortunately, the iBook in question has seen a rough life. The DVD-ROM drive has had it's plastic front bezel break off, and now refuses to latch shut, rendering it useless. In addition, someone managed to break one of it's keys off (never mind the fact that the keyboard was replaced not too long ago...). Fortunately, through the use of Firewire Target Disk Mode and the above-mentioned PowerMac G4, I was still able to get OS X onto it's freshly-formatted hard drive (it refused to boot from an external Firewire CD-RW drive I have), and it is proving to be an adequate little machine, despite it's limitations.

In conclusion, both graphite-case Macs are working quite well, and are proving worthy additions to my squadron of vintage (and otherwise) Macs. With any luck, I will get many hours of use from both of them. Here are some pictures of the 'new' Macs:
The PowerMac G4
(Note: due to the design of that desk, I had to slide the tower case in from behind!)
"The Gang Of Three"
(From left to right: PowerMac G4 (on Hitachi 21" CRT monitor), iBook G3, Intel iMac, all sporting my favorite desktop wallpaper... ;) )

-Adam

The Dark Side Of The Light Side...

Figured I'd update my last post. As of a couple of days ago, I managed to successfully get the iMac running Windows XP Pro. My original idea didn't work, but I was able to "slipstream" my SP1 CD of XP Pro to a SP2 version using instructions available here, and that allowed the Mac driver disk to install successfully. I must say, the Mac runs Windows faster than even my 2.8GHz Pentium 4-based Sony Vaio laptop. Plus, whenever I get tired of dealing with the assorted problems in Windows, I simply use the Startup Disk control panel to get me back over to good ol' OS X. ;)
-Adam

The Light Side Of The Dark Side...

First post of the year! Never mind that we're more than four months in...

As anyone who has been bored enough to dig deep within my website (or to read my last post), I have been engaged in an on-going Mac saga, involving several quasi-relevant G3-based Macs. Well, it has taken a new turn. A couple of days ago, after walking into the Apple Store at the local mall, and spending an hour or so hemming and hawing, I convinced myself to plunk down $1,299 for a brand spankin' new 17" iMac, with a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo chip under the hood. As a long-time PC loather and a relative newbie to the Mac world, the implications of the new device are a bit confusing: the power plant long-used by the enemy, sitting under the hood of an Apple computer. However, it definitely walks like a Mac, and quacks like a Mac, so it's definitely a Mac. Or, as things may turn out soon, a sheep in wolf's clothing...

Not one day after acquiring this beast, I decided to see what all the hoopla about Boot Camp, Apple's new beta software which allows these Intel-based Macs to boot Windows XP, was about. After installing the software, I attempted to install a dusty copy of Windows XP Professional SP1; I know Boot Camp requires SP2, but it started to install anyway, so I figured it might work...

Boy, was I wrong! When I attempted to run the driver disk which Boot Camp had made, it gave me a fatal error. On top of that, the machine flat refused to shut itself down or restart without freezing. Not good. I decided to cut my losses, and remove the Windows partition from the HD. However, there might be hope: according to some pages I've read, the install at least allows the wireless card to work (something which didn't seem to work for me, but who knows), which means you can download and install SP2 from the existing SP1 install, to allow those other drivers to work. Not sure if I'll have good luck with that (I rarely do), but maybe I'll make a go of it.

Anyhoo, getting back to the crux of the matter, the new iMac works quite well at it's primary purpose, which is to be a Mac. Native applications, such as Safari, are lightning-fast. Old PPC applications aren't too much worse: Microsoft Word 2004, which took at least 30 seconds to start on my old 400MHz iMac G3, only takes about 5-10 seconds with the new iMac. The Rosetta emulation layer is nearly transparent, except for the slight delay versus a real PPC iMac. Having an iSight camera built-in is an added plus, since there aren't too many other webcams which work with the Mac without some tweaking (are you listening, Logitech?). The remote is neat, too; the included Front Row software, when used with the remote, essentially turns the iMac into a gigantic iPod.

All in all, I think the new iMac is a great device. The only problem I've had with it, save for the minor Boot Camp snafu, was that the keyboard partially or completely stopped responding on the first day I had it. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be too common of an occurrence, and fairly easy to fix when it does. Another minor problem is the current lack of Universal Binary-based major applications (such as Photoshop or Microsoft Office) made for the Intel-based Macs, though I'm sure it'll turn out to only be an issue in the short term. My only real concern is the fact that it is a first-revision device, and anything which is in it's first revision has the potential to develop issues; hopefully, that won't be the case with this iMac. Anyway, enough of this typing, I'm gonna do some more messing around with this thing... ;)
-Adam

"If it seems too easy, you're not trying hard enough." Part 4: Computers

Again, sorry for the delay. Again, things have been quite busy, with me working five days a week at the convenience store. Anyway, on with the show.

For a couple of years, I made do with a Sony Vaio laptop. While it ran fairly well, I had a friend who was a Mac fan, and had long extolled the virtues of the Mac over the PC. For several years, the only Macs I could come up with were far too old to be of any use in today's world, lacking features that people take for granted nowadays (ethernet, processor speed, even color graphics...). Then, in July, I struck quasi-gold: I found a vintage PowerMac G3 (beige version) at a flea market for all of $10.

I took it home, and discovered that it worked fairly well. I attempted to install OS X 10.2 onto it, which it was supposed to be compatible with. However, much to my chagrin, it absolutely refused to boot from the install CD. I ended up using a program called XPostFacto, which was meant to be used to install versions of OS X on computers not made to be able to use them, and got 10.2 installed onto it (attempted to update it to 10.2.8, but that caused a video issue, so I reformatted and went with 10.2.6, an earlier version, instead). As I've learned since, the beige version of the PowerMac G3 (as opposed to the iMac-like blue & white version) is extremely picky about running OS X. I have since acquired another beige PowerMac G3, and it too was highly recalcitrant towards installing OS X 10.2 (even though it had had it installed before the hard drive was reformatted).

About two months later, luck then struck again. While at a yard sale, I spotted a green iMac G3 DV with a price tag of, you guessed it, $10. The hard drive seemed to be dead, as did the internal video screen, but I figured that it'd be worth at least that much for the parts alone, so I went for it. After viewing this page, I discovered that attempting to install OS X onto an iMac G3 without updating the firmware to 4.1.9 can cause screen blanking.

I connected a monitor to the VGA port on the back of my iMac (only iMac G3 DVs came with the VGA port, so I consider myself lucky), which came up with working video, proving that the firmware was likely the problem. I managed to get the old internal hard drive working to a small degree, installed a clean version of OS 9.1 onto it, ran the firmware update, and voila! The internal monitor came back to life. I then replaced the old hard drive with a larger one, installed OS X 10.3 on it, and it is serving me well to this day (though the video tends to be a bit unstable).

I use the iMac for most purposes, but it is too slow for graphics-intensive operations. Hopefully, I will get a newer Mac one of these days, and will finally be able to put the laptop fully behind me. I am considering the Mac mini, as well as the iBook line, but I will be waiting until after the January 10th keynote speech at MacWorld San Francisco to see what sort of changes, if any, will be taking place in the low-end Mac lines.
-Adam

"If it seems too easy, you're not trying hard enough." Part 3: Cars

My luck with cars has not been optimal these past few months. My first car, a banged-up 1991 Dodge Spirit, was retired in March because I was handed down my mother's 1996 Chrysler Concorde LXi. Overall, it looked like a very nice car, and had a very nice series of options, including a sunroof. However, looks can be deceiving...

About two months after acquiring it, the first incident occurred. While in the process of merging onto the highway, I noticed the temperature gauge zooming to the 'H' mark, and the corresponding idiot light on the dash coming on. I pulled over to the side of the highway, and had it towed to a local garage, who found very little wrong with it. Not a week after that, I was driving in the middle of downtown Lowell, and what should I see but the temperature gauge having pegged again, and steam streaming from the underside of my hood. AARGH! Once again, it got towed back to the garage, where they found that the air conditioner compressor had seized due to a series of misdiagnoses, the belt driving it had snapped, and the belt had gotten caught in the cooling fan, blowing it's fuse.

Thigs were relatively fine for a month or two after that, but soon, things started going wrong yet again. I noticed that my car now had a tendency to stall at low speeds. While making a turn or cruising along, the tachometer would often dip below the standard idle speed of 750RPM, occasionally catching itself napping, but often just sputtering out and dying. This made pulling up to a stoplight an adventure in frustration, and getting off of off-ramps a dangerous interlude (I once ended up kissing the bumper of a truck after the engine stalled in the middle of an off-ramp which ended in a hill). At one point, it stalled out while going 30MPH on a windy country backroad, which was a sheer nightmare. I suspected a faulty sensor, but none of the shops it was taken to seemed to be able to figure it out.

In the end, it wasn't the stalling which was the final straw, however. Not long after the backroads incident mentioned above, I was pulling out of an intersection when I heard a loud "thunk." from the back of the car. I looked in my rearview mirror, and saw a lovely cloud of smoke streaming from the back wheels. Once again, it had to get towed home. Once in a repair shop, it was found that the entire rear suspension had collapsed. Needless to say, I had had enough of the thing. While it spent a whole month in the repair shop, I decided to look for a replacement vehicle. After looking over several cars, including a lovely 1986 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, the final choice ended up being a 1995 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight Royale. It drives very nicely, and is in good shape. Hopefully, it will last me a few years.
-Adam